But as she does with many other elements in this novel, McQuiston twists this trope, going one step further than Green and peeling back Shara’s layers, revealing her to be deeply complicated-smart, insecure, gregarious, selfish and more. Like the seekers in that novel, Chloe, Smith and Rory initially learn more about themselves and each other than about Shara. As if anticipating comparisons to the oft-derided manic pixie dream girls of John Green’s novels, McQuiston takes an affectionate jab at Paper Towns early on: “Of course Shara cast herself as the main character of her own personal John Green novel,” Chloe thinks. Shara herself is the most impressive accomplishment here. Read our starred review of the audiobook for ‘I Kissed Shara Wheeler.’
They handle trauma and its impact with nuance and sensitivity, and even tertiary characters feel dimensional. McQuiston maintains the tone (and frequent absurdity) of the novels they’re emulating as their characters explore issues that teens have always faced. McQuiston’s prose is quick, witty and referential, striking a balance between the wry way that characters speak in rom-coms and the way that real teenagers actually talk. I Kissed Shara Wheeler is self-aware but not self-conscious, and it never condescends to its readers. The result is a messier and more grounded take on contemporary YA fiction that will appeal to current and former teens alike. Likewise, Chloe, Shara, Smith and Rory push against the outlines of their archetypes. I Kissed Shara Wheeler, the first YA book by adult romance sensation Casey McQuiston, brilliantly deconstructs many tropes common to teen novels published during the first decade of the 21st century, including popular yet troubled girls, outsider heroes and scavenger hunts, complicating them by incorporating queerness, religious trauma and a deep interiority. With only the memory of vanilla-mint lip gloss and an increasingly convoluted string of clues to follow, the unlikely trio reluctantly band together to track down Shara-who may not want to be found.
Star quarterback Smith Parker, Shara’s longtime boyfriend, and Shara’s next-door neighbor, bad-boy Rory Heron, have both been “kissed and ditched” like Chloe. With weeks left until graduation, Chloe is determined to find Shara, but she’s not the only one looking. Things get even stranger when Shara vanishes in the middle of prom, leaving the prom king without a queen and the school buzzing with rumors. So when Shara corners Chloe in an elevator at school one day and kisses her, questions arise.
Chloe is a queer former Californian with two moms and a mean streak Shara is the principal’s daughter and the de facto princess of Willowgrove. Chloe Green and Shara Wheeler have nothing in common except their goal of beating each other in a ruthless race to become valedictorian of Willowgrove Christian Academy, the best school in their small Alabama town.
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